Contact
by BlackTwistedTwilight
Summary: Gaara had always been alone, ever since he could remember. Now he's found someone to be his friend, and she is the one thing keeping him from going insane. Ai would do whatever it takes to keep Gaara safe, but how can she when his sand won't even let her touch him?


**Hey every one! It's me…again. This is just a cute one shot that was pounding on my skull to get out, so, before my head explodes, here's me, writing, as usual. I am in **_**love**_** with Gaara, so this one focuses on him. ^.^ Enjoy! Here's, **_**Contact.**_

It's times like these when he remembers _her._

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Tiny feet pattered on the dry sandy ground of the Hidden Village of Sand as a small boy with crimson hair rushed down the deserted streets. Normally the streets were crowded with merchants and Ninja for hire, but, as always, when the small Demon-host came around, everyone decided they had something else to do at that exact moment in time. He clutched a small package to his chest as he chanted the speech he had come up with by himself (with help from his uncle) to the thin air. It had happened again. He had tried to be friendly, and this time, he had nearly killed someone. A little girl in fact, about his age. He had been so sorry he had begged his uncle to find out where she lived. He had done so, and now the little boy was on his way to make things right. The package in his hands contained a soothing cream for the serious sand burns and slashes he had given her when she had looked him in the eye and opened her mouth as if to say something. When he _finally _arrived at the mystery girl's house, he took a step back and gave the mud colored cottage an once-over with his big cyan eyes. It was a simple house, with a light tan door, two windows set exactly ten feet apart with red and white curtains, and a shingled roof. One or two shingles were missing, giving the impression that the people who lived there either didn't care, or were unable to take care of the place. He lifted a pale hand and tapped the door a few times. A minute passed when he heard a shuffle behind the door and a chain being drawn back. The door creaked open an inch or two and the girl peered out. They stared at each other for a solid three minutes before the door slammed in his face. He sighed, _why hadn't he expected this to happen? _and turned to leave. All of a sudden he heard a great bang as a bolt was thrown back and the door was lobbed open. She stood there in all her glory with her arms and neck covered in white bandages, concealing her pale skin. Her long aqua blue hair fell into her face, covering her silver eyes as she huffed, blowing the annoying strands up. Her mouth scrunched up into a pout as the hair settled back down into her eyes.

"Ya know, it's rude to knock, stare at someone, and leave." She crossed her arms, albeit a little stiffly. The boy stared. No one had _ever_ even given him to courtesy of opening his or her door all the way, and she had done both this, _and _given him lip. He blinked, then stepped forward and held out the parcel, his cyan eyes shut as he waited for the sound of a door being slammed, or a squeal of disgust and a couple of insults. Instead, the box was taken out of his hands and opened. "Oh. Thanks! This'll help with the…burns and stuff," she mumbled quietly.

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out, and then recoiled. She cocked her head and looked at him peculiarly.

"Sorry for what? I was being serious."

"Sorry for, you know, hurting you."

"'s alright," she grunted, before unscrewing the lid off the bottle that was inside the package the boy had treated so tenderly. She walked back inside the house, leaving a dumbfounded boy, before looking back over her shoulder. "Ya wanna come in?" The boy was beyond ecstatic. Not only had he found someone who didn't hate him, she was being _nice_! That in itself was enough to give the boy hope for his future. He nodded slightly. "What's your name? You ain't coming in 'till I know who you are." Oh. That's why. She didn't know who he was, _what_ he was.

"G-Gaara," he murmured.

She raised an eyebrow, before flinching at the pain that lanced through her neck at the simple movement. "The demon-host? Ok. Come on in."

_What?_ Gaara wondered. She wasn't screaming yet, so that was good. Better yet, she was _still_ being nice!

"You, you aren't an assassin are you?" he said, glaring now. That would explain the sweetness and flowers. She stopped and glared back.

"Why would I be a stupid assassin? I'm gonna be a ninja when I get big!" She declared, puffing out her chest. "Assassins are dumb. Come on in, I'm Ai."

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After that one chance encounter, Gaara and Ai were inseparable. They did _everything_ together. Gaara protected Ai, and Ai gave Gaara a new lease on life. Not everything was brutal, cruel, and vicious. He wasn't desperate and lonely any more. Ai was all he needed, or wanted. She was his best friend, and he would do anything for her, _kill _for her. Then came the day when his only family that he thought cared for him, his uncle, betrayed him and tried to kill him. This was the first time she tried to touch him.

"Hey Gaara!" He could hear Ai's cheerful voice from a mile away; it was the only voice that harbored any sort of kindness and love toward him. The monster. He was hurt and betrayed and she was a balm. She bounced up to him, ignoring the filthy looks she got from the people surrounding them. The day they became friends was the day she joined him in exile. She noticed the letter incised into his forehead and stopped dead. Her name. "Why…?" she started to ask, worry all over her delicate features.

"It's not for you," he snarled, turning away from her silver gaze.

Her eyes softened, "Of course not. Don't worry Gaara. I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere." She reached out a hand to cup his porcelain face when a wall of sand blasted her back, throwing her into a vegetable cart and sending a sandy colored awning toppling down on her head. Gaara was horrified. He ignored the terrified looks from the surrounding people, and dashed over to her, yanking off the canopy. Ai was conscious, but barely. She staggered to her feet and leaned on the wall for support. "Sorry, I didn't mean too," she whispered before toppling forward. She was out before she could feel Gaara's small but strong arms wrap around her. Nor could she feel sand snake around her as Gaara teleported her to her house. He laid her gently down on her bed and pulled her soft covers over her.

"I'm sorry."

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The two of them were 10, and still the greatest of friends. Now Ai was the one 'protecting' Gaara. A best friend can only take so much abuse to their counter-part.

'They' had Gaara in a corner, "Monster!"

"Demon!"

"Get out of here, Freak!" Again and again they threw vicious insults, not knowing just how close they were to being annihilated. Gaara grit his teeth and tried desperately to fight back the urge to crush their bodies from the inside out. Sand swirled around his small feet, licking and spitting at the boys that had made it their mission to torment him.

"Hey! What the heck do ya think you're doing?" A familiar voice snapped Gaara out of his bloodlust. Ai was stomping over to them, anger etched all over her features. She stopped right in front of the main bully, Loki, and glared, her hand on her hip, clearly about to do something drastic. "Loki! What have I told you, lay a hand on him, and I'm going to rip it off!"

The way he sneered at her made Gaara wince, not for her, but for him. He was _so_ going to pay the price for that one. "What're you gonna do about it?"

That was it. Gaara started to speak up, tell her not to, but before he could, Ai let out a shriek of pure hatred and lunged for his throat. Loki dodged and Ai dropped to the ground and swept his legs out from under him. He stumbled back up and shifted into a fighting stance. She smirked.

"You're off balance." _THWACK!_ She punched him in the eye. He bowled over a few of his lackeys when he crashed into them, efficiently forming a dog-pile. This was the time when they decided it was time to scram. Loki sniffed and wiped his nose with one hand, nursing a developing black eye with the other. He threw a hand out, signaling the others to leave. They scattered and Loki ran past the triumphant Ai, shoving her with his shoulder before vanishing. Ai had been thrown off balance by the sudden shoulder charge. She stumbled back and tripped over nothing. She fell backward before twisting in mid-aid, like a cat does to land on its feet. One problem, Gaara was in the way. She opened her eyes and stared straight into his surprised cyan pools. She turned red and smiled sheepishly. "Grace of a ninja, eh?" That's when she realized she hadn't been thrown off by sand yet. Pushing her luck just a bit further, she leaned down swiftly, pecked his cold gritty cheek and scrambled off the dumbfounded boy before the sand that whirled up could catch her. By the time Gaara came to, Ai was well gone. His hand came up and lightly touched the part of his face were her lips had been briefly. Ai had really done it now.

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Things had gone back to normal between the two since Ai had kissed Gaara. They were now 12 and were doing well in the academy. Gaara was slowly sliding back into his anti-social self again, and Ai was determined not to let him. Every day she would stay with him and glare at anyone who even dared _look_ at him the wrong way. Ai was small, but when Gaara was involved, she was dangerous.

Today was special. They were going on their very first mission and Gaara's eyes had a shine Ai had never seen. He looked _this _close to jumping off the walls and singing, a sight Ai would have paid money to see. "What do you think it'll be?" Ai whispered in a hushed tone. Their sensei was bent over the desk, trading scrolls with the prune-faced old man behind the sand-colored desk.

"I hope it's catching criminals. I want to see them scream for mercy before I destroy them from the inside out." Gaara murmured back, a cruel smirk turning the corners of his mouth up. Ai stared expressionlessly, shocked out of her mind. Gaara cracked a small smile, a rare sight indeed. "I'm kidding, Ai." Ai breathed an audible sigh of relief. He wasn't that far gone…

"O-ok." She cursed at her normally steady voice shook like jelly. Gaara tilted his head.

"Something wrong?"

Thinking on the spot, Ai shot out the first thing that came to her mind, "No! I just wanted you to come tell me what you think of my new ninja outfit!" She seized him by the strap that kept his absurd gourd on and started dragging the redhead away.

"W-what about the mission? Wait. Clothes? You're joking. Tell me you're joking. You aren't this cruel. Ai!" Gaara stuttered out as the flaming faced Ai pulled him past the other genin that were staring quite rudely.

Ai's Home

_Why, why, why, why, why!_ Ai groaned as she paced back and forth in her room, cursing her terrible excuse-skills and her lack of clothing. She couldn't even fake a new ninja outfit-who even had stupid outfits for ninja!- because of her bare empty closet (Do ninja have closets?). She had never been one for fashion or glamour. She could hear Gaara kicking at her door as he waited for her to get out of there. _Oh gosh, I'm gonna have to use my mother's clothes!_ Ai beat her head against the door repeatedly.

"Ai?" She heard his voice call out, apparently perturbed by the loud banging.

"Err…yeah, just, err, tripped! Yeah, tripped…" She stuttered lamely. She shuffled over to the door that joined her parent's room to hers and opened her mother's drawers forlornly. She slipped the clothes over her head.

"How do I look? And if you laugh, I will hit you over the head with your own gourd." Gaara turned, surprised that Ai of all people had managed to sneak up on him.

"It's a bit big…" He said. This was true, the fishnet undershirt, which should have fitted to her elbow, hung down around her wrists and her black tank top and shorts were about to fall off of her frame. The only thing that fit well was the boots that he recognized as her own.

"Oh, is it? I hadn't noticed." She drawled sarcastically. Gaara blinked, before realizing she was in fact, being sarcastic. He really had to get a handle on the whole people-aren't-always-being-serious-and-trying-to-k ill-you thing. He mouth twitched. Smiling still wasn't easy for him. Ai grinned and slung an arm over his shoulder. She was pleased that he didn't even stiffen. That was the last time Gaara ever saw Ai smile.

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Ai and Gaara were out on an easy mission when the unthinkable happened. A group of rogue Nin decided to prey on the two seemingly weak and helpless genin. They were wrong. Gaara had just finished crushing the life-blood out of the second to last when he heard Ai scream in pain.

"Ai!" he whirled. Ai stared blankly at him, a crimson-stained hand wrapped around the handle of the kunai that was buried in her chest. The tall ninja that stood over her didn't even know what hit him before he was destroyed so utterly and completely that Gaara surprised even himself. More blood spattered Ai as the remains of the ninja rained down. She slowly dropped to her knees, her face sleepy almost.

"Hmm?" she murmured, as her silvery eyes met his frantic cyan ones. With a geyser of blood, she ripped the kunai out and dropped it on the ground.

"Ai?" Gaara reached out a hand to support his one and only friend. Ai smiled slightly. This was the first time Gaara had ever touched her, it had always been the other way round.

"I'm fine, Gaara, don't worry about me," she said weakly, then her knees gave out and she fell backwards. The sand around her turned a sick dark red. The monster inside Gaara raged over the sight of _so much blood_. "Or maybe I'm not," she said, with a hint of her old humorous attitude.

"Ai?" Gaara couldn't bring himself to say anymore than that. Ai lifted a small hand up and brushed his cheek, where so very long ago she had kissed him.

"Ya know something, Gaara?" He looked at her with a questioning expression on his pale face. "I'm proud of you." The hand that had touched his cheek fell limp at her side and her silver eyes glazed over.

"A-ai?" he whispered, for once, the thought of death making him ill. "Ai? Ai!" A scream of absolute anguish echoed throughout the dead sandy hills.

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Gaara stood stiffly, his hands clenched tightly around the brim of a white hat. He placed it on his head and gazed at the mirror hanging on the wall. The wide brim of the Kazekage's hat threw his face into shadow. Three years since Ai had died on a mission and Gaara was becoming the new Kazekage. Ai really would have been proud now.

**And done! *****Reads back over story* NO! Why did I have to kill Ai! *Sob* Sniffle… Well, other than that I like it. And to you jerks who are gonna be like, 'Oh Gaara's so OOC!' Tough Bananas. I did my best and if you don't like it. I'm terribly sorry that I can't get a very complex and deep character exactly right. And I actually haven't watched the second series of Naruto; I just know that my huggy-panda becomes Kazekage. Whaaaaat! I'm not a stalker! How dare you! (It's all true ^.^ ) Ok, enough of my rambling, reviews please! Byeeee! ~Twi**


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